WELL, AT LEAST THE KISS CAN STAND

A little girl introduced publicly to President Reagan as a Nicaraguan refugee at a dinner this week was actually born and raised in the U.S., her parents said Thursday.

Patricia Guerra, 8, of Washington, presented Reagan with a picture of refugee children at Monday night`s Nicaraguan Refugee Fund dinner and received a much-photographed presidential kiss on the cheek.

The dinner kicked off the President`s drive to win congressional approval of $14 million in aid for Nicaraguan contras.

True Davis, the master of ceremonies and former U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, introduced the girl as ''an 8-year-old Nicaraguan refugee.'' But in reality, the girl is the daughter of longtime Nicaraguan residents and she has lived all her life in the U.S.

''There was never any intention of passing her off as something she`s not,'' said her mother, Thelma Guerra, who works for the World Bank. ''It was just very unfortunate.''

The girl`s parents said the dinner`s program stated that Patricia was giving Reagan the picture ''on behalf of Nicaraguan refugee children.''

Guerra said she was amazed at Davis` error.

''I don`t know why he did that. It was probably for the same reason he didn`t introduce Jose Feliciano to sing the national anthem,'' Guerra said.

''The poor man was just sitting there with his guitar ready to go.''

As Feliciano sat in the audience, Davis led the 600 guests in singing the ''Star Spangled Banner,'' she said.